Ok the group projects are over.
First thought; 'thank god!'
Now that isn't to say I didn't enjoy it, because it did (for the most part).
Everything started great, lots of ideas bouncing round, loads of energy and optimism. All the best bits of working with others. This lasted for a while but soon people started to drift, myself included.
I think this might have been due to us not nailing down a firm concept early enough. It left people abit unsure what to do and where to take it.
Once we had the concept sorted and more importantly the area we wanted to portray, I settled down and began my bitter sweet love affair with Unreal.
Initially it was great, I was making good progress and had new stuff to show everyone on an almost daily basis.
Then. Then the learning curve took a sudden upward dive and I was getting bogged down and demoralised.
This happened around the time the rest of the group were completing their first assets. So I was constantly torn between importing assets testing them re-importing them ect, and trawling through online tutorials on topics from lighting to triggers.
The situation was totally of my own construction however, and in hindsight I should have done a couple of things differently:
First I'd have made a much more official asset list with clear precise naming conventions. This would have saved me loads of time renaming peoples work etc (which leads me onto my second point.)
In future mi going to have to be a little more forceful and learn to say no, so i dont take on more than i can cope with. Maybe abit of delegation would have helped instead of trying to tackle everything myself.
However, I am pleased with what we ended up with. The level looked great and showed a real consistency with the great concept work Cherrelle and Blair did. We really pulled it together in the last few weeks. Although that kind of make me wonder what we could have achieved if we started like that.
BMW
In a previous blog I wrote that I had applied for BMW's internship in Munich. After completing the brief and sending off my work. Nothing. I waited for ages and ages. Finally I decided enough was enough and trying to sound as polite as possible sent an email asking how everything was going.
A little more waiting and Gareth (the boss) said he would like a telephone interview with me the next day and a CV. I hate writing CV's! I can manage my details and past experience, but what makes me right for the job? Erm, give me a job because I am awesome? Maybe not.
So, the phone interview. Telephone voice at the ready. Everything seemed to be going well, then I compared myself to a fifteen year old Ford escort (my awful car).... I don't need to say any more than that. After asking him not to write that down, it picked up a bit and ended with a request to see more of my work. Gareth was really impressed at my model of the BMW X6 I made and he was actually one of the team that worked on the development of that car and referred to it as 'a beast.' Sent my portfolio and a couple of weeks later after another follow up email or two and one internship at BMW thank you very much :)
I was so excited that I had managed to get the internship that I was jumping around doing cartwheels (not quite- I have no balance). After a few days it suddenly sank in that I would have to leave my home and move to Germany. For a year. Its such an amazing opportunity, but hell I am scared. There is so much that I have to sort out and so much that I have to think about. Let alone trying to understand at least a little of the language!
A little more waiting and Gareth (the boss) said he would like a telephone interview with me the next day and a CV. I hate writing CV's! I can manage my details and past experience, but what makes me right for the job? Erm, give me a job because I am awesome? Maybe not.
So, the phone interview. Telephone voice at the ready. Everything seemed to be going well, then I compared myself to a fifteen year old Ford escort (my awful car).... I don't need to say any more than that. After asking him not to write that down, it picked up a bit and ended with a request to see more of my work. Gareth was really impressed at my model of the BMW X6 I made and he was actually one of the team that worked on the development of that car and referred to it as 'a beast.' Sent my portfolio and a couple of weeks later after another follow up email or two and one internship at BMW thank you very much :)
I was so excited that I had managed to get the internship that I was jumping around doing cartwheels (not quite- I have no balance). After a few days it suddenly sank in that I would have to leave my home and move to Germany. For a year. Its such an amazing opportunity, but hell I am scared. There is so much that I have to sort out and so much that I have to think about. Let alone trying to understand at least a little of the language!
3D engine design isn't rocket science – it's far more complicated than that.
I vaguely remember Mike mentioning in one of our group therapy sessions that, he thought 'software programmers are like the industrial revolutionary engineers of our generation'. (probably horribly misquoted, but they were words to that effect.)
The cause of this flashback was an article on guardian.co.uk. This one to be precise
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/dec/11/3d-engine-videogame-technology.
Although around five months old now it is still fairly current for a mainstream newspaper, who often tend to treat video game articles as a novelty. Rather like the a story of a German Shepard becoming a surrogate mother to a trio of piglets, you'd expect to hear at the end of a news broadcast.
“Today some of the most brilliant minds in the world – physicists, mathematicians, architects, aerodynamics experts - are working on video games” The question is why? Turns out that the amount of programming and the difficulty that it entails means that this may be even more challenging than there chosen professions.
Software used for games companies has been used to power everything from the New York Stock exchange to a democratizing tool, so if someone in a village in Suffolk doesn't like the bench the council want to put in the park they can design a new one.
So it seems that software is the new iron and steel, not only of this country, but of the whole world. Anything is possible.
“John D Carmack, the programming legend behind the Doom and Quake games runs an aerospace company as a relaxing diversion from his role as technical director at games developer id. Which goes to show that 3D engine design isn't rocket science – it's far more complicated than that.”
The cause of this flashback was an article on guardian.co.uk. This one to be precise
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/dec/11/3d-engine-videogame-technology.
Although around five months old now it is still fairly current for a mainstream newspaper, who often tend to treat video game articles as a novelty. Rather like the a story of a German Shepard becoming a surrogate mother to a trio of piglets, you'd expect to hear at the end of a news broadcast.
“Today some of the most brilliant minds in the world – physicists, mathematicians, architects, aerodynamics experts - are working on video games” The question is why? Turns out that the amount of programming and the difficulty that it entails means that this may be even more challenging than there chosen professions.
Software used for games companies has been used to power everything from the New York Stock exchange to a democratizing tool, so if someone in a village in Suffolk doesn't like the bench the council want to put in the park they can design a new one.
So it seems that software is the new iron and steel, not only of this country, but of the whole world. Anything is possible.
“John D Carmack, the programming legend behind the Doom and Quake games runs an aerospace company as a relaxing diversion from his role as technical director at games developer id. Which goes to show that 3D engine design isn't rocket science – it's far more complicated than that.”
3D cinema
Having just gone out and bought James Cameron's Avatar and recently going to see Clash of the Titans at the cinema, I thought it would be a good idea to write a blog about 3D Cinema. 3D cinema has been around for quite a long time, however it has quite rapidly come to our attention in very big ways.
After seeing Avatar at the cinema Clash of the Titans didn't seem to be anywhere near as good. I began to wonder why and after researching the film I found out that the decision to make the film available in 3D came at the last minute. It is quite clear that the premium rate charged for a 3D film was too much of a lure. It seems that I am not alone as the film itself seems to have picked up solid reviews its just the 3D aspect that doesn't seem to have been so popular. If Clash Of The Titans has proved anything though it is that if a studio is keen to release a film in 3D, it should be committed to from day one of filming. That way, we don't get a boardroom decision at the last minute that demands a hasty tack-on that doesn't really work.
Opposing this though Cameron's Avatar, which was intended to be 3D from the first day of filming, has been a great success. I was genuinely impressed at the films technological accomplishments. The narrative seems to be lacking slightly, but the whole concept of Pandora, another planet in space inhabited by strange and wonderful creatures, gives the opportunity for creativity. Inevitably it has led the industry towards a brave new world of stereoscopic film production.
Unfortunately I was unable to go and see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland or any other films recently out in 3D, but I am assured that it is very good in that aspect. The two films I saw at the cinema seem to be at either ends of the spectrum. Really amazing and truly a failure.
Twenty years from now, we are assured, all movies will look like Avatar. No doubt it is the fate of all cutting-edge technology to eventually turn blunt, dull and outmoded, but that is a concern for another day, another era.
BMW?!
“Well it'd be stupid not to try right?” this is pretty much what went through my mind when I read Tom's Brief for the BMW internship. I immediately started drawing up a 'master' plan to secure the place. I initially intended to do both options and produce and vehicle and place it in a scene I had created. The vehicle would be a BMW X6-M, chosen purely because I thought it an interesting design, a sort of mix between a 4x4 and a saloon car. The scene I had in mind was a quarry, full of mud and dust. Mud and dust that I intended to spray all over the car.
So with a great deal of excitement and anticipation I began modeling the X-6. I started very low poly around the front wheel arch, there were maybe 6-8 sides to the arch at the start. I then built the front wing, with most of my concern on keeping good clean flow lines. I built the rest of the car using this method, following the lines of the car in a smooth and effective manner. Once this was complete I deiced to try and up the poly count and improve the over all silhouette.
I used the turbo-smooth modifier to achieve this. Usually I wouldn't use turbo smooth but since this model was only being used for production and final renders, not games I felt justified . Initially turbo-smooth caused many problems and seemed very messy. After some reading online I refined the mesh by chamfering edges to achieve the hard lines and smooth curves I required. However the chamfering required a lot of forward planning and fine tuning to make sure is was left with clean topology. Once I had gotten to grips with this method the car really began to take shape and I started work on an interior. I didn't want to spend too much time making the interior super detailed, as the main focus would be the outside.
After I'd got the interior out of the way I began fine tuning the outside.
I had a lot of trouble with the shapes in and around the rear bumper. It has a lot of hard edges and changes in direction, which when chamfering and smoothing can get a bit confusing. After sorting that the front bumper was less of a challenge, and with that done most of the challenging shapes where complete.
I did quite a few test renders just to see how it was looking. These highlighted a few areas that needed work, the door handles for example were not smoothing in the right shape.
I want through this process quite a few times until I was happy with how the car was looking.
I had quite a bit of trouble balancing the brightness and contrast. It was either coming out too dark and undefined or too bright and washed out.
For the final renders I tried to place the camera in positions that replicated advertising images used by car firms. I think the low angel shots were particularly effective at making the car look aggressive and imposing.
I wrapped up my 5 best renders in a PDF and sent an email with all my fingers crossed.
So with a great deal of excitement and anticipation I began modeling the X-6. I started very low poly around the front wheel arch, there were maybe 6-8 sides to the arch at the start. I then built the front wing, with most of my concern on keeping good clean flow lines. I built the rest of the car using this method, following the lines of the car in a smooth and effective manner. Once this was complete I deiced to try and up the poly count and improve the over all silhouette.
I used the turbo-smooth modifier to achieve this. Usually I wouldn't use turbo smooth but since this model was only being used for production and final renders, not games I felt justified . Initially turbo-smooth caused many problems and seemed very messy. After some reading online I refined the mesh by chamfering edges to achieve the hard lines and smooth curves I required. However the chamfering required a lot of forward planning and fine tuning to make sure is was left with clean topology. Once I had gotten to grips with this method the car really began to take shape and I started work on an interior. I didn't want to spend too much time making the interior super detailed, as the main focus would be the outside.
After I'd got the interior out of the way I began fine tuning the outside.
I had a lot of trouble with the shapes in and around the rear bumper. It has a lot of hard edges and changes in direction, which when chamfering and smoothing can get a bit confusing. After sorting that the front bumper was less of a challenge, and with that done most of the challenging shapes where complete.
I did quite a few test renders just to see how it was looking. These highlighted a few areas that needed work, the door handles for example were not smoothing in the right shape.
I want through this process quite a few times until I was happy with how the car was looking.
I had quite a bit of trouble balancing the brightness and contrast. It was either coming out too dark and undefined or too bright and washed out.
For the final renders I tried to place the camera in positions that replicated advertising images used by car firms. I think the low angel shots were particularly effective at making the car look aggressive and imposing.
I wrapped up my 5 best renders in a PDF and sent an email with all my fingers crossed.
John Hilliard
John Hilliard is an artist that uses photography and explores the ways a camera can distort your perception of a scene. This is quite interesting as it is commonly perceived that a photo tells no lies, whereas traditional painting can be easily distorted or changed especially when representing a scene. Photo's can often be seen as 'fact' were as paintings a mere 'interpretation'. ‘Cause of Death’ is a perfect example of this. This is one photograph of a body lying in a field, but the cause of death is open to interpretation. The photograph has been cropped in four different ways and each time there seems like there is an obvious explanation for the death. Drowned, Crushed, Fell, Burned. This questions the truth of a photograph and also could be a comment on the impact media manipulation can have on our understanding of events. They also also show how important composition is in how we understand an image. This is something I want to try and really begin to explore in my visual design work.
‘Camera recording its own condition’ is another work by Hilliard consisting of 70 photographs of a camera. Each photograph is slightly different according to the conditions under which the camera’s settings have been changed. Many of the photographs are under exposed contrasting with many that are overexposed. The aim with this piece is to show that an image can be manipulated and distorted even with just the use of light and the lens. There are many possibilities for error when taking a photograph and a photograph can never be a true representation of an image or object. Colours especially can vastly change. This in particularly becomes important to remember in visual design, there is no substitute to on site observational drawing. (happy now Chris?) 
I find Hilliard’s work very interesting because, maybe previously I have rarely ever questioned the truth of a photograph. Perhaps a little naivety on my part, but now that I can see how manipulation can be so simple and have such an effect.
Turner and the Masters
On a very cold and very snowy day in London last week I got the chance to go and see the Turner and the Masters exhibition at Tate Britain. In the words of Stephan Deuchar, the director of the Tate, “In exploring how a nineteenth- century painter forged a new and distinctly modern form of landscape painting rooted in an understanding of and critical independence form past art, the exhibition seeks to broaden our understanding of the concept of artistic originality and reveal how a sense of history can shape artistic production.” This large gathering of so many of Turner's works and those of artists that influenced him is extraordinary and has been carefully thought out from beginning to end.
Throughout his career Turner never tired of matching his talents to those forerunners whom he most admired. The great thing about the exhibition is that these are displayed next to Turner's own work and you can see the links that they have with each other. Some of the artists include are Rembrandt, Canaletto, Poussin, Constable, Gainsborough and Ruebens. When Turner was apupil at the Royal Academy, the institutions then president Sir Joshua Reynolds in his Discourses said “Study therefore the works of great masters, for ever. Study as nearly as you can in the manner, and on the principles, in which they studied. Study nature attentively , but always with those masters in your company; consider them as models which you are to imitate, and at the same time as rivals with whom you contend.” I think that this is still relevant today and this is a good approach for myself to use in my own art work.
Poussin's “Winter, or the Deluge” 1662-4 and Turner's “The Deluge” 1805, they are displayed side by side and are a brilliant example of how Turner tried to emulate and challenge the work of old masters. In this example I think that he was particularly successful. Turner's painting portrays a real sense of drama and energy the figures in it appear to be in great agony and peril. Whereas in Poussin's 'Deluge', the emotions of the figures are not portrayed as you would expect in a catastrophe. Turner's version appears a lot more apocalyptic and fits in with the narrative much better.
Rembrandt's “Christ and the woman taken in adultery” 1644 and Turner's “Pilate washing his hands” 1830 were also shown together. However, in this case I do not think Turner has challenged or improved upon the style of a master. In my opinion Rembrandt's painting is better because it has much more defined colours and depth, and more dramatic lighting.
Overall I found the exhibition very interesting and found that being able to compare and contrast so many paintings with one another was a good way to learn more about art.
Throughout his career Turner never tired of matching his talents to those forerunners whom he most admired. The great thing about the exhibition is that these are displayed next to Turner's own work and you can see the links that they have with each other. Some of the artists include are Rembrandt, Canaletto, Poussin, Constable, Gainsborough and Ruebens. When Turner was apupil at the Royal Academy, the institutions then president Sir Joshua Reynolds in his Discourses said “Study therefore the works of great masters, for ever. Study as nearly as you can in the manner, and on the principles, in which they studied. Study nature attentively , but always with those masters in your company; consider them as models which you are to imitate, and at the same time as rivals with whom you contend.” I think that this is still relevant today and this is a good approach for myself to use in my own art work.
Poussin's “Winter, or the Deluge” 1662-4 and Turner's “The Deluge” 1805, they are displayed side by side and are a brilliant example of how Turner tried to emulate and challenge the work of old masters. In this example I think that he was particularly successful. Turner's painting portrays a real sense of drama and energy the figures in it appear to be in great agony and peril. Whereas in Poussin's 'Deluge', the emotions of the figures are not portrayed as you would expect in a catastrophe. Turner's version appears a lot more apocalyptic and fits in with the narrative much better.
Rembrandt's “Christ and the woman taken in adultery” 1644 and Turner's “Pilate washing his hands” 1830 were also shown together. However, in this case I do not think Turner has challenged or improved upon the style of a master. In my opinion Rembrandt's painting is better because it has much more defined colours and depth, and more dramatic lighting.
Overall I found the exhibition very interesting and found that being able to compare and contrast so many paintings with one another was a good way to learn more about art.
Turner
Turner- A brilliant artist
Joseph William Mallord Turner was born in London in 1775 and was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in 1789. Turner is famed for his romantic landscape paintings and there is even a permanent collection of his works in the Tate after he left many of his works to the nation after his death.
Romantic landscape painting developed in Britain during the first half of the nineteenth century for a number of possible reasons. An increase in industrialisation meant that artists wanted to portray an idealised version of the countryside landscape, rather than show the effect that the ‘age of steam’ was having on rural Britain. Even politically Chartists and Radicals advocated “a return to the land” as it was mans natural workplace. Another trivial reason being that the new middle class, a creation of the rapid growth in urban areas, just wanted something pretty to hang on the walls of their London homes.
Turner was deeply influenced by another landscape artist, Claude Lorrain, who painted more than a century before him. Turner admired Lorrain so much so that he even requested in his will that Lorrain’s Seaport with Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba (1648) be displayed in the National Gallery next to Turner’s own Dido Building Carthage (1815).
Joseph William Mallord Turner was born in London in 1775 and was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in 1789. Turner is famed for his romantic landscape paintings and there is even a permanent collection of his works in the Tate after he left many of his works to the nation after his death.
Romantic landscape painting developed in Britain during the first half of the nineteenth century for a number of possible reasons. An increase in industrialisation meant that artists wanted to portray an idealised version of the countryside landscape, rather than show the effect that the ‘age of steam’ was having on rural Britain. Even politically Chartists and Radicals advocated “a return to the land” as it was mans natural workplace. Another trivial reason being that the new middle class, a creation of the rapid growth in urban areas, just wanted something pretty to hang on the walls of their London homes.
Turner was deeply influenced by another landscape artist, Claude Lorrain, who painted more than a century before him. Turner admired Lorrain so much so that he even requested in his will that Lorrain’s Seaport with Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba (1648) be displayed in the National Gallery next to Turner’s own Dido Building Carthage (1815).
The two landscapes are similar in their compositions using classical architecture to frame the space and you can easily see the influence that Lorrain has had on Turner. Especially in relation to the way the sunlight affects the atmosphere of the painting overall, and both deeply romanticise the landscape.
The romantic landscape of Turner, I believe, evolved much further than for example his contemporary John Constable. Constable remains true to the ideals of romanticism and almost always depicts his ‘true to nature’ scenes of Constable Country. In my opinion Turner began to reject romantic ideals in favour of portraying a much more factual depiction of nature in Britain. Turners works were admired by many and had a particular influence in France, and I think that these later works such as and Rain Steam and Speed (1844) had a direct influence on Impressionism that emerged out of France during the 1870’s and 1880’s
Turner’s Snowstorm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps (1812) is a particular favourite landscape painting of mine. The figures depicted are very small, as in many of Turner’s landscapes, and almost do not need to be included in the painting as our attention is never actually centred on them and their story. When I look at this painting all I see is the epic landscape and the impressionistic treatment of the snowstorm.
Turner’s ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ (1839) is another favourite and was even recently voted by the nation as its favourite painting. It shows the Temeraire being tugged to its last berth before being dismantled. Apart from being quite a beautiful painting there may have been underlying connotations that Turner was trying to portray. The small ugly tug boat is representative of the new industrial era of the Victorian age and the large majestic ship is representative of the old Georgian era. The sun is setting on this era but even the smoke from the small tug boat blackens the sunset and is almost like the victory of industrialisation over everything that once was. The use of light to create atmosphere and his style influence me in my work.
Mannerism
Mannerism- The proof that sometimes they got it wrong.
The term mannerism itself derives from the Italian word maniera. For Vasari (the most prolific art biographer at the time) this term meant ‘the method of copying frequently the most beautiful things, combining them to make from what was most beautiful the best figure possible, and putting it into use in every work for all the figures’. The period of time that we generally contribute mannerist works to is from around 1520 to 1600. Evidence to suggest this comes from many works of principally Italian origin.
The principal characteristic of mannerist works of art is the elongation and distortion of the human figure. The muscles are also often grossly over emphasised creating forced and unclear compositions often resulting in great discrepancies in scale between the figures. Much of mannerism is a conscious revolution against the calm classicism and serenity of artists such as Raphael during the High Renaissance. The very perfection of Raphael led only to emulation in his successors and therefore they turned to the exaggeration of facial expression, gesture and lighting in order to produce a work of their own. Here are a couple of examples of mannerist art.
Jacopo Pontormo, The Descent from the Cross (1525-1528). This scene has no depth to it at all the figures are too closely intertwined and the whole space looks overly crowded. The contrapposto pose of Christ adds to the elongation of his limbs and makes him look very unrealistic. The only saving grace for the mannerist aspects of this work is the facial expressions, which are very pronounced, but as this is a deposition scene the horrified looks are acceptable. There are many other paintings that I think are badly composed with unrealistic portrayals of figures and poses. I understand the aims of mannerism; I just don’t think that they were always successfully executed. Mannerist characteristics in sculpture however seem to be more successful as in Cellini’s salt cellar.
Rosso Fiorentino, Dead Christ with Angels (c.1526)
The term mannerism itself derives from the Italian word maniera. For Vasari (the most prolific art biographer at the time) this term meant ‘the method of copying frequently the most beautiful things, combining them to make from what was most beautiful the best figure possible, and putting it into use in every work for all the figures’. The period of time that we generally contribute mannerist works to is from around 1520 to 1600. Evidence to suggest this comes from many works of principally Italian origin.
The principal characteristic of mannerist works of art is the elongation and distortion of the human figure. The muscles are also often grossly over emphasised creating forced and unclear compositions often resulting in great discrepancies in scale between the figures. Much of mannerism is a conscious revolution against the calm classicism and serenity of artists such as Raphael during the High Renaissance. The very perfection of Raphael led only to emulation in his successors and therefore they turned to the exaggeration of facial expression, gesture and lighting in order to produce a work of their own. Here are a couple of examples of mannerist art.
Jacopo Pontormo, The Descent from the Cross (1525-1528). This scene has no depth to it at all the figures are too closely intertwined and the whole space looks overly crowded. The contrapposto pose of Christ adds to the elongation of his limbs and makes him look very unrealistic. The only saving grace for the mannerist aspects of this work is the facial expressions, which are very pronounced, but as this is a deposition scene the horrified looks are acceptable. There are many other paintings that I think are badly composed with unrealistic portrayals of figures and poses. I understand the aims of mannerism; I just don’t think that they were always successfully executed. Mannerist characteristics in sculpture however seem to be more successful as in Cellini’s salt cellar.
Benvenuto Cellini, Salt Cellar for Francis I (before 1545). Although this is not a painting but a sculpture I think it demonstrates the aims of mannerism stated by Vasari very well. Cellini was primarily trained as a goldsmith and the fine detail here is extraordinary, and may well be what makes this piece so brilliant. This salt cellar was used as storage for salt and pepper and it depicts the god of the sea Neptune and the goddess of the earth Ceres. The elongation of the limbs and the depiction of ideal beauty here is perfectly acceptable as it has not been done to an extent that renders the piece ugly and poorly designed as in Pontormo’s deposition painting.
Parmigianino, Madonna of the Long Neck (1535)
Rosso Fiorentino, Dead Christ with Angels (c.1526)
Michelangelo
Whenever you ask someone what they think of when you say ‘Michelangelo’, they will often reply with “The Sistine Chapel” or “David”. Michelangelo is one of the best documented sculptors of the sixteenth century and yet people do not know that much about his life as a sculptor. Obviously the brilliance of the Sistine Chapel cannot be ignored entirely, but to Michelangelo painting was an inferior art to sculpture, and he only painted the Sistine Chapel to prove himself as a painter as well as a sculptor.
Michelangelo was inspired by classical antiquity and often sculpted naked male figures as in his colossal statue David (1501- 1504) This shows the figure of David contemplating the fight that is to come between him and Goliath.
The treatment of the musculature is outstanding and the statue has become well known for its beautiful study of the human form.
La Pietà (1499) is another of Michelangelo’s best known works. A young depiction of Mary is holding the body of Christ in her arms and the treatment of the marble has left an outstandingly smooth finish. Christ’s anatomy is detailed and accurate and again demonstrates Michelangelo’s brilliance in depicting the nude male. Mary’s facial features are in my opinion the most beautiful part of this work. Her features are delicate and naturalistic almost making her appear flesh like. The drapery of the whole sculpture is also amazing.
The image of victory is often depicted as a woman, as is traditional. However, Michelangelo in his Victory (1525-1530) has depicted a man. It is likely that the figure of victory here depicts the politics of a newly liberated Florence. The extreme twist of the young male is almost beyond the realms of possibility, but Michelangelo manages to convince me that that this pose is natural.
Where Michelangelo was brilliant at depicting the male form I do not think he spent much time studying the female nude. In particular his Night for the Medici chapel looks like the body of a man. The muscles are too large on the arms and thighs, the shoulders are too broad and worst of all the breasts look like they have been stuck on as an afterthought.
Whenever you ask someone what they think of when you say ‘Michelangelo’, they will often reply with “The Sistine Chapel” or “David”. Michelangelo is one of the best documented sculptors of the sixteenth century and yet people do not know that much about his life as a sculptor. Obviously the brilliance of the Sistine Chapel cannot be ignored entirely, but to Michelangelo painting was an inferior art to sculpture, and he only painted the Sistine Chapel to prove himself as a painter as well as a sculptor.
Michelangelo was inspired by classical antiquity and often sculpted naked male figures as in his colossal statue David (1501- 1504) This shows the figure of David contemplating the fight that is to come between him and Goliath.
The treatment of the musculature is outstanding and the statue has become well known for its beautiful study of the human form.
La Pietà (1499) is another of Michelangelo’s best known works. A young depiction of Mary is holding the body of Christ in her arms and the treatment of the marble has left an outstandingly smooth finish. Christ’s anatomy is detailed and accurate and again demonstrates Michelangelo’s brilliance in depicting the nude male. Mary’s facial features are in my opinion the most beautiful part of this work. Her features are delicate and naturalistic almost making her appear flesh like. The drapery of the whole sculpture is also amazing.
The image of victory is often depicted as a woman, as is traditional. However, Michelangelo in his Victory (1525-1530) has depicted a man. It is likely that the figure of victory here depicts the politics of a newly liberated Florence. The extreme twist of the young male is almost beyond the realms of possibility, but Michelangelo manages to convince me that that this pose is natural.
Where Michelangelo was brilliant at depicting the male form I do not think he spent much time studying the female nude. In particular his Night for the Medici chapel looks like the body of a man. The muscles are too large on the arms and thighs, the shoulders are too broad and worst of all the breasts look like they have been stuck on as an afterthought.
Onlive?
The games journalism fraternity seems abuzz with talk of the recent 'Onlive' announcement.
after some light reading i found Tim Buckly of CAD fame made an interesting point.
"I won't pretend to know the architecture of the intricate web of licensing and exclusivity deals that ensares the entire games industry, but I do suspect that some pretty strict arrangements would start popping up between developers and the console manufacturers. And I also know that a lot of development studios are owned by console manufacturers, or other publishers. I doubt Microsoft spent so much time and money acquiring a lion's share of the industry to turn around and let Bungie's new Halo game show up on a service that costs them console sales.
And Nintendo... Nintendo shits money and they've had an incredible case of explosive diarrhea for the last few years. What incentive do they have to license their titles to a start-up service that, once again, doesn't sell their hardware?"
more thoughts on this matter to come after iv read abit more.
after some light reading i found Tim Buckly of CAD fame made an interesting point.
"I won't pretend to know the architecture of the intricate web of licensing and exclusivity deals that ensares the entire games industry, but I do suspect that some pretty strict arrangements would start popping up between developers and the console manufacturers. And I also know that a lot of development studios are owned by console manufacturers, or other publishers. I doubt Microsoft spent so much time and money acquiring a lion's share of the industry to turn around and let Bungie's new Halo game show up on a service that costs them console sales.
And Nintendo... Nintendo shits money and they've had an incredible case of explosive diarrhea for the last few years. What incentive do they have to license their titles to a start-up service that, once again, doesn't sell their hardware?"
more thoughts on this matter to come after iv read abit more.
Transatlanticism
Just though i'd share a song thats always on my 'walking to uni' playlist. its on there with alot of other death cab for cutie stuff, if you've not heard them you should look them up.
End of Year Review
Christ its time to review the year already! You guys weren't kidding when you said it'd fly by...
First off the things being planned for next year all sound very exciting. The getting out of Uni more sounds great to me, being in Leicester we're quite lucky that no where in the country is massively far away and we have great transport links. I understand frequent 'field trips' would be quite costly and health and safety is a constant nightmare. Also the increased focus on 'traditional art' seems interesting. Personally I'd quite like to see more collaboration between different departments and courses. We're part of highly regarded art and design university, yet we never seem to see much of it. When I was on the foundation course last year we were encouraged to go to different departments and interact with other students, share ideas ect. Now I understand that's not an easy thing for staff to organise and its something we could all do in our own time, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Iv surprisingly found the facebook system really useful not only as a way to receive feed back from tutors but also share work between classmate in all years. There's some really inspiring stuff on there at the moment that we might other wise not get to see.
In terms of my personal development thought the year. I find it very hard at the start of the year to get upto speed and struggled with the large class size. Im aware that's an unavoidable thing and that I should of tried harder, but at the time I guess I felt a little lost among the masses. In the second half of the year I think iv progress a little better but I have to say I don't think I yet to be work at my full potential. I have grand plans to really pull my finger out over the summer and get to grips with max. I've also been toying with the idea of signing up for some evening class's running at Leicester uni. In life art and sculpture, at the very least they should keep my brain ticking over. All in all I feel very positive about next year and think iv learnt a lot from the mistakes of this one.
Reflection
What am I hoping to get out of university? Besides a nice piece of paper and a sense of accomplishment? First I think I'll have developed a greater sense of what im capable of and how i want to apply it. I will have hopefully made some decisions on where i'd like to take my career. On top of that and I suppose more importantly I'll have learnt some useful new skills especially In the 3d aspect of the course. At the start of the year that was the hardest part for me, I cant say that was a total shock but the learn curve for these programmes is quite steep and you have to be determined to get anything back. I think that going to be the deciding factor in how successful I am on the course – determination. I have also began to look at 3ds-max in another way, kind of a puzzle or a problem solving exercise. It reminds me of play with Lego as a kid, once you know how all the bits fit together the only real limit is your imagination. Admittedly I only know a few of the 'blocks' at the minute. A lot of what holds my back is physiological, I tend to get overwhelmed by complex things. Iv' found it helps if I break things down and make lists of what I need to do. Even these blogs go through that process and some are rewritten several times. Which is why I tend to leave them I guess.
show your creativity
'Creativity without craft is like fuel without an engine - it burns wildly but accomplishes little...
'Craft without creativity is like an engine without any fuel – going nowhere fast..'
Creativity is part of the human condition, with us our entire history. Its potential lies within all of us the trick is focusing it in a productive way. Creativity can manifest itself as a desire to solve problems. Some of these of these problems are unique to a person while other are more universal. Artistic creativity began with our ancestors need to record information about food location and such. It allowed people to communicate there experience to a wider audience and it has snow balled from there. Technological developments have allow us more ways to solve these age all problems. The end result of all 'creative industries' is essentially trying to communicate. Each person involved in the process adds a little to it, things they have gathered through there own unique experiences. So the result Is a collection of people own unique creative interpretations. Then that end piece is seen by other who add it to there collective experience and so on and so on. So for example when you play a game, your in a way playing every game the people who made the game ever played. Filtered edited warp manipulated and moulded into a new experience. Its true that nothing is created in a vacuum. So its important for a career in the 'creative industries' that you can organise all this information and use it in a way that solves the problem your face with. Weather it be to create a new interesting character or simply modelling a tree. In the case of the tree it might not be obvious where the creativity is applied since you cant really redesign a tree, but using creative thinking you can find way to model it fast or more efficiently. Both are vital in a cost driven industry. So you could say everyone has a creative obligation to approach everyday life in new ways , constantly improving and trying new things. Its how we got to where we are today.
'Craft without creativity is like an engine without any fuel – going nowhere fast..'
Creativity is part of the human condition, with us our entire history. Its potential lies within all of us the trick is focusing it in a productive way. Creativity can manifest itself as a desire to solve problems. Some of these of these problems are unique to a person while other are more universal. Artistic creativity began with our ancestors need to record information about food location and such. It allowed people to communicate there experience to a wider audience and it has snow balled from there. Technological developments have allow us more ways to solve these age all problems. The end result of all 'creative industries' is essentially trying to communicate. Each person involved in the process adds a little to it, things they have gathered through there own unique experiences. So the result Is a collection of people own unique creative interpretations. Then that end piece is seen by other who add it to there collective experience and so on and so on. So for example when you play a game, your in a way playing every game the people who made the game ever played. Filtered edited warp manipulated and moulded into a new experience. Its true that nothing is created in a vacuum. So its important for a career in the 'creative industries' that you can organise all this information and use it in a way that solves the problem your face with. Weather it be to create a new interesting character or simply modelling a tree. In the case of the tree it might not be obvious where the creativity is applied since you cant really redesign a tree, but using creative thinking you can find way to model it fast or more efficiently. Both are vital in a cost driven industry. So you could say everyone has a creative obligation to approach everyday life in new ways , constantly improving and trying new things. Its how we got to where we are today.
Why spend three years teaching folk what we already know?'
Can education provide highly trained graduate artists and liberal creative artists? Does it need too? I understand the point of higher education there days is to secure higher paid graduate jobs. Sort of like a down payment of a future career. But do courses really need to panda to industries every whim and fickle change of heart? Surely the 3 years can be better spent acquiring a wide range of skills, experimenting and developing. What universities are great for are there shared learning experiences the colliding of ideas and the passing on of knowledge. Turn them into production lines begins to lose some of the appeal for me. Sure a great job would be nice but its not the be all and end all.
https://jobs.ea.com/jobs/jobposting.aspx?postid=a0z50000000GroyAAC
this job vacancy at EA has a long list of requirements and the very bottom of the preferred skills is a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree or related program. So employers are looking for graduates but not nessicerally specific 'game art' ones. I guess graduating any arts based course is assumed to provide a key set of skills. Maybe its up to the course to decided what other elements would be best to support those key skills. This Is a very complex area and Im beginning to lose my train of thought on the matter. Iv realised that a lot of people myself included start university not really knowing what they want out of it. Other than that elusive great job at the end of it all.
https://jobs.ea.com/jobs/jobposting.aspx?postid=a0z50000000GroyAAC
this job vacancy at EA has a long list of requirements and the very bottom of the preferred skills is a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree or related program. So employers are looking for graduates but not nessicerally specific 'game art' ones. I guess graduating any arts based course is assumed to provide a key set of skills. Maybe its up to the course to decided what other elements would be best to support those key skills. This Is a very complex area and Im beginning to lose my train of thought on the matter. Iv realised that a lot of people myself included start university not really knowing what they want out of it. Other than that elusive great job at the end of it all.
Never Mind the Bollocks
Games and Cinema share a lot in common, Well at least what I consider 'good' games do at least.. One of these shared components is a music, both effects and a musical score. Music effects are fairly simple. They help us understand the processes going on on screen. The revving of engines or the firing of bullets. They can create a more realistic and immersive experience. Sound effects are also useful in enhancing dramatic moments, the sound of a fist hitting a person can be vital for the suspension of disbelief. Game scores can play a similar roll in creating and immersive experience, although they do it on a more emotional level. They can heighten moments of suspense, make a simple car chase into a adrenalin filled event or even make us lament the loss of a games main character.
Whilst researching I came across a composer named Harry Gregson-Williams, he himself has work in both game and cinematic scores. His work on the Metal Gear Solid titles is what led me to him but I was surprised to find he was part of Ridley Scotts Kingdom of Heaven movie. Which as I remember had a pretty dramatic score. I had less luck finding who was responsible to the score to the original Resident Evil Games as that stands out for me as great early example of how sound can really enhance a gaming experience.
Bassist Bernard Edwards appears (from what iv gathered from wiki) to be a rather influential musician. For a bassist that's no small achievement either. His bass line in the Chic track 'Good times' has been sampled by many famous acts including Queen. That being said the title of 'most influential recording of the 20th century' seems a little grandiose. What about The Sex Pistols 'Never Mind the Bollocks'. Not in my opinion a great collection of music, but the influence it had was enormous.
Whilst researching I came across a composer named Harry Gregson-Williams, he himself has work in both game and cinematic scores. His work on the Metal Gear Solid titles is what led me to him but I was surprised to find he was part of Ridley Scotts Kingdom of Heaven movie. Which as I remember had a pretty dramatic score. I had less luck finding who was responsible to the score to the original Resident Evil Games as that stands out for me as great early example of how sound can really enhance a gaming experience.
Bassist Bernard Edwards appears (from what iv gathered from wiki) to be a rather influential musician. For a bassist that's no small achievement either. His bass line in the Chic track 'Good times' has been sampled by many famous acts including Queen. That being said the title of 'most influential recording of the 20th century' seems a little grandiose. What about The Sex Pistols 'Never Mind the Bollocks'. Not in my opinion a great collection of music, but the influence it had was enormous.
Gaming Engine
A game engine is a software system designed for the creation and development of video games. The core functions provided by a game engine usually include; a rendering engine for both 2D and 3D and physics engine for collision detection response, sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence (A.I) and several others.
Due to their nature game engines are constantly evolving, adapting to new requirements and incorporating new technologies. ‘Havok’ is a Cross-platform engine based around physics and is found in many of today's games. However, a lot of the most recent big budget titles seem to favour their own engine. I find it quite interesting that the games ‘Farcry’ and is sequel ‘Farcry 2’ use completely different engines, the ‘CryEngine’ and the ‘Dunia Engine’ respectively. It must have come at a large cost to the developers so presumably they intend for it to be used in other games and sold on to third parties.
Due to their nature game engines are constantly evolving, adapting to new requirements and incorporating new technologies. ‘Havok’ is a Cross-platform engine based around physics and is found in many of today's games. However, a lot of the most recent big budget titles seem to favour their own engine. I find it quite interesting that the games ‘Farcry’ and is sequel ‘Farcry 2’ use completely different engines, the ‘CryEngine’ and the ‘Dunia Engine’ respectively. It must have come at a large cost to the developers so presumably they intend for it to be used in other games and sold on to third parties.
The Culture of Gaming
Game culture has always been a bit of an uneasy bedfellow for me. When socialising with groups of friends games are rarely topics of conversation. They are massively over shadowed by old favourites Music, Film and TV. They have not quite reached the platform of socially acceptable 'table talk'. For example, when meeting someone for the first time it is easy to ask their favourite musician, actor or film but a whole lot harder to ask their favourite video game. For all you know they may never have played a game their entire lives.
This situation is thankfully changing all the time, games culture is finding its way into the mainstream, even if people don't realise it. In recent years more casual and group orientated games have helped push games culture mainstream, Nintendo's Wii has been a big part of this. It’s these sort of games I find myself taking part in most. Our house has been the scene of many video game based drinking games before Friday night’s out. I have dabbled into the world of on-line gaming but found it a relatively unrewarding affair.
Pulling off a well timed head shot is far less fun in a room on your own than it is on a sofa next to a few friends. I even have (to my shame.) a WoW account, but even whilst playing that player interaction is more a ‘means to an end’ than it is the main attraction. I can see the potential in it, the ability to interact with people of all races and nationalities in a safe and friendly atmosphere. It’s just a shame most gamers have little of interest to say.
This situation is thankfully changing all the time, games culture is finding its way into the mainstream, even if people don't realise it. In recent years more casual and group orientated games have helped push games culture mainstream, Nintendo's Wii has been a big part of this. It’s these sort of games I find myself taking part in most. Our house has been the scene of many video game based drinking games before Friday night’s out. I have dabbled into the world of on-line gaming but found it a relatively unrewarding affair.
Pulling off a well timed head shot is far less fun in a room on your own than it is on a sofa next to a few friends. I even have (to my shame.) a WoW account, but even whilst playing that player interaction is more a ‘means to an end’ than it is the main attraction. I can see the potential in it, the ability to interact with people of all races and nationalities in a safe and friendly atmosphere. It’s just a shame most gamers have little of interest to say.
Hard Times
The Games industry like many others, has found itself on shaky ground of late. The Economic down turn has affected everyone in some way, and the games industry must adapt to these new conditions. This isn't to say games will not be made, it just means the purse strings have to be tightened. Lots of companies are doing this by outsourcing ever increasing amounts of work. They can get equally skilled employees at significantly lower costs in non-EU or US countries. The hardest hit are small independent companies operating on small profit margins, and with a tight group of employees. However no one is immune, in late December Sony reported that it would be cutting more than 8000 jobs, and that they will be decreasing its investments into its electronic research by 30% by March 2010. Also EA has recently cut 1,100 jobs in its worldwide operations. Some people have speculated that these cut backs have little to do with the global slowdown, and are just an example of streamline and cost effective management. EA's John Riccitiello summed up by saying developers were "too fat, too reliant on where things were.
All this being said the money is still out there. 2008 witnessed a new sales record with a raise in both video game hardware and software by 19% over 2007. What is certain is competition for audiences will increase, studios will put more pressure on developers to create sure fire hits and budgets will be stricter.
In terms of my future career, things are looking tough and competition for jobs high. Even if the economic problems are resolved developers will unlikely want to find themselves in the same position again.
All this being said the money is still out there. 2008 witnessed a new sales record with a raise in both video game hardware and software by 19% over 2007. What is certain is competition for audiences will increase, studios will put more pressure on developers to create sure fire hits and budgets will be stricter.
In terms of my future career, things are looking tough and competition for jobs high. Even if the economic problems are resolved developers will unlikely want to find themselves in the same position again.
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